Letter: City should stand against group fighting DEI

Awake Americans, a national affiliate of Awake Illinois, is using Naperville as a launching pad for its views and actions that contradict and undermine our city's pledge to diversity, equity and inclusion. A public statement from Mayor Werhli and the City Council, telling them they are not welcome here and confirming support for and defense of communities and workplaces under attack, is urgently needed.

Awake groups across the country are at the forefront of book-bannings and spewing untruths about the LGBTQ+ community, specifically targeting transgender people and drag queen story hours at public libraries. They use bullying tactics to shut down events and undermine public schools and teachers who educate children on the history of racism.

It is no accident that Shannon Adcock, Naperville's founding Awake Illinois member, used the month of Juneteenth and LGBTQ+ pride celebrations to host Awake Americans to advance an expanded agenda with a panel titled "Woke 101: Is Marxism in America?"

Marxism, socialist ideas and left parties have led political, social and labor movements in the U.S. for centuries. I'm a Marxist feminist who has distributed the Freedom Socialist newspaper for 50-plus years. The right wing fears us and our publications for truth-telling and building unity among the working class and our allies, so they raise the specter of Marxism in the U.S. to cause suspicion and fear.

Remember the 1950s and '60s when those suspected of being communists or homosexuals were forced out of jobs, some put in prison and mental institutions? Book Bans are the tip of neo-Nazi agendas. Urgent united mass action is needed to nip them in the bud.

Mary Ann Curtis

Naperville